Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1533377
VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P123 Agostini's 1974 switch from his once-beloved MV Agusta to Yamaha made the Wayne Gretzky Oilers-to-LA-Kings deal seem like an AMC Gremlin trade- in at Junior Samples Used Cars. Yamaha racing boss Rod Gould had masterminded the deal, and it shook the European racing world, with many wondering if the signing had been the right move. Agostini had spent most of his career with one motor - cycle. Was the champion too far down the stream to switch horses? There would be no greater test than what would await him in Daytona. The best American tal - ent. A motorcycle he had never raced on a course that would be foreign to him. For a cherry on the top, Daytona temps topped 90 degrees that day. When the green flag waved, the Italian got right down to busi - ness by grabbing the holeshot, with Hideo Kanaya, Don Castro, Gary Nixon and Yvon DuHamel following. He set a blistering pace, lapping riders on the sev - enth go-round. But by the ninth lap, the game had changed, with either Agostini slowing down or the tight pack behind him speed- ing up. Barry Sheene, Kenny Rob- erts and Gary Nixon all passed Agostini, and each rider would enjoy a moment in the spotlight, taking turns leading the presti- gious event. For all of the hullabaloo sur- rounding the massive European and American Yamaha team efforts, it looked as if veteran Team Suzuki rider Gary Nixon was going to steal the TZ700's thunder. "At the end of the 33rd lap," Cycle News' Jack Mangus wrote, "Nixon held an 11-sec - ond lead over Agostini. Nixon pitted for gas on the next lap and Ago, with still a second pit stop scheduled, took over the lead with Roberts a not-too-far distant second. "Nixon was in and out of the pits quickly and returned to the fight with Ago and Roberts." An apparently fatigued Agostini still had one more fuel stop before the finish. Had the World Cham - pion overlooked the Americans? Had he fully grasped the magni- tude of the mighty Daytona 200? Perhaps. With a level of coolness that would've drawn a sneer from James Bond, Ago had taken an almost casual approach to America's biggest motorcycle race. Off-season testing results in Japan had been somewhat discouraging and those in the know whispered that something was amiss. The early days of pre-race work at Daytona had done little to make them think otherwise. But Ago understood that the game he was playing was chess, not checkers. In his excellent book Yamaha, famed motorsports journalist Ted Macauley noted that "little seemed to disturb the Italian. As at the test session in Japan, Agostini motored round [at Daytona] at his own pace. He was unhurried, unruffled, but certainly aware of the criticisms that were inevitably being lev - eled at him. He was happy to be the slumbering giant…" It was Dick Mann who once said that a motorcycle racer must go as fast as he can—but no faster. With the lead and with the race seemingly in hand, Gary Nixon chose to go faster. "Exiting the infield on the 37th lap," Cycle News wrote, "Nixon threw his factory Suzuki away. The bike continued on around the banking, finally sliding down to the apron approximately 150 feet away from the twice Grand National Champion." That left Agostini back in front, with just one final pit stop between himself and the $15,000 first-place cash. Rob - erts, who had struggled with cracked expansion chambers on his machine, was well back in second, with Kawasaki rider Hurley Wilvert an impressive third. Giacomo Agostini, in his first-ever race on the Yamaha two-stroke TZ700, outrode many, outsmarted others and outlasted everyone else to take an electri- fying win. Just days after his Daytona victory, Agostini and his closest friends jetted to Manila for, ac- cording to Macauley, "a 10-day holiday of unbelievable luxury." Island hopping, meat and drink, government receptions. It was a celebration fit for a king, one who had just successfully van- quished his opponents. Ago's female guest for the event? The luscious Italian actress Gina Lol- lobrigida—in a supporting role, of course. CN Subscribe to nearly 60 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives